diff --git a/mpi/ChangeLog b/mpi/ChangeLog
index e2e27c8cf..f540fac2e 100644
--- a/mpi/ChangeLog
+++ b/mpi/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2002-08-13  Werner Koch  <wk@gnupg.org>
+
+	* mpicoder.c (do_get_buffer): Don't remove leading zeros if the
+	MPI is marked as protected.
+
 2002-08-02  Timo Schulz  <ts@winpt.org>
 
 	* mpicoder.c: Add a '\n' to all log_bug functions.
diff --git a/mpi/mpicoder.c b/mpi/mpicoder.c
index e0434c15f..559facd89 100644
--- a/mpi/mpicoder.c
+++ b/mpi/mpicoder.c
@@ -363,12 +363,15 @@ do_get_buffer( MPI a, unsigned *nbytes, int *sign, int force_secure )
       #endif
     }
 
-    /* this is sub-optimal but we need to do the shift oepration because
-     * the caller has to free the returned buffer */
-    for(p=buffer; !*p && *nbytes; p++, --*nbytes )
-	;
-    if( p != buffer )
-	memmove(buffer,p, *nbytes);
+    if (!mpi_is_protected (a))
+      {
+        /* this is sub-optimal but we need to do the shift operation
+         * because the caller has to free the returned buffer */
+        for(p=buffer; !*p && *nbytes; p++, --*nbytes )
+          ;
+        if( p != buffer )
+          memmove(buffer,p, *nbytes);
+      }
     return buffer;
 }